Solar Cells Info

by David Kay, Cosmos Online, 18 April 2007
source: CosmosOnline
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1224

The expense of photovoltaic cells has prevented their widespread use, but a raft of new technologies is pushing their prices down. One of them is solar slivers.  The usual weather conditions in Scotland – cold, overcast and damp – are hardly inspiring for scientists trying to figure out how to cheaply capture energy from the sun.

But in May 2000, physicist Andrew Blakers and electrical engineer Klaus Weber from the Australian National University in Canberra traveled to Glasgow for a professional conference. To their surprise, in two weeks they experienced rain just once; the long, sixteen-hour days were bright and sunny. Perhaps that helps to explain what happened there.
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The Business Journal of Phoenix, April 20, 2007
source:
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/04/16/daily44.html

Amtech Systems Inc. has signed a 10-year licensing deal with a Korean firm to market an existing product and to develop new technology related high-volume solar cell manufacturing, company officials said Friday.  Tempe-based Amtech Systems (NASDAQ: ASYS) signed the royalty-free deal with PST Co. Ltd. to market its existing plasma-enhanced chemical vapor disposition (PECVD) system, and to develop and manufacture a new model.
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On the surface of a new photovoltaic prototype, microscopic nanotube towers perform best when they catch light on their sides.

By David Talbot, April 17, 2007
Source: MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18539/

Solar cells generally crank out the most power at noon, when the sun is at its highest point and can strike the cell at a 90-degree angle. Before and after noon, efficiencies drop off. But researchers Georgia Tech Research Institute have come up with a prototype that does the opposite. Their solar cell, whose surface consists of hundreds of thousands of 100-micrometer-high towers, catches light at many angles and actually works best in the morning and afternoon.
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Coors Field Celebrates First Utility-Scale Solar Power Electric System in a Major League Ballpark
DENVER, April 20, 2007
Source: sunpower corp. press release
http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=238809

This weekend, the Colorado Rockies will take on the San Diego Padres at home under a solar-powered scoreboard. The new 9.9 kilowatt solar electric system, which was installed by Independent Power Systems as a result of a partnership between the Rockies and Xcel Energy, is being celebrated on Earth Day, April 22. Comprised of 46 solar panels from SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), it is the first commercial- scale solar electric power system to be installed in a Major League Baseball ballpark.
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by John Toon, Atlanta, Georgia, 17 April 2007
Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com

Unique three-dimensional (3D) solar cells that capture nearly all of the light that strikes them could boost the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems while reducing their size, weight and mechanical complexity.  “The efficiency of our cells increases as the sunlight goes away from perpendicular, so we may not need mechanical arrays to rotate our cells.” — Jud Ready, Georgia Tech Research Institute, a senior research engineer in the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory
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source: Scientific American /April 22, 2007
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa002&articleID=1496CAD6-E7F2-99DF-34B95C45D49BA57C

Solar cells made from cheap, plastic polymer barely capture the energy in sunlight. Photons reflect off the plastic and it is too thin to absorb much, giving the polymers color. “The very fact that it has color is telling you this thing is not working as well as it should,” says David Carroll, a physicist at Wake Forest University. But plastic solar cells also offer flexibility, light weight and, theoretically, low cost, and could be incorporated into a range of products. “You can’t think of doing anything cheaper than making Saran Wrap and that’s basically what these are,” says Lawrence Kazmerski, director of the Department of Energy’s National Center for Photovoltaics in Colorado.
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Tapping the sun to power UAE homes

By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter /21 April 2007

source: Gulf News
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Technology/10119770.html

Dubai: Houses fully powered by solar energy will soon be available for home owners in the country.  Scandinavian renewable energy experts will be in Abu Dhabi and Dubai later this month to promote solar housing in the UAE after working on the idea in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
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By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-04-17-air-force-solar-power_N.htm?csp=34

The largest solar power plant in North America will soon be providing electricity to an Air Force base in the Nevada desert.  The military says the plant, scheduled to power up at Nellis Air Force Base by the end of the year, shows that solar energy can effectively meet part of the country’s energy needs.
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Apr 20 2007
source:
http://www.environmentalleader.com

Estee Lauder has installed a 600-kilowatt solar energy system at its manufacturing facility in Oakland, New Jersey. The project is one of New Jersey’s largest rooftop mounted solar installations as well the largest third-party solar energy supply contract in the state.

Designed and installed by DT Solar and owned by an investment partnership created by MMA Renewable Ventures, the system incorporates more than 3,000 solar panels installed atop a facility that houses manufacturing for Estee Lauder’s Aramis Brand. The project has the complete support of facility owner and operator Westminster Management. Expected to generate over 650,000 kilowatt-hours annually, the solar energy system will offset production of more than 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide over its expected 25-year lifetime.  Earlier this year, Ted Turner partnered with Dome-Tech Solar to create DT Solar, a Turner renewable energy company.

Jeanette Pavini Reporting /April 20, 2007
Source: CBS Broadcasting
http://cbs5.com/consumer/local_story_110194943.html

If you want to go solar, you don’t have to commit to putting panels on your house. Portable solar charges help more people recieve the environmental benefits of solar power.  Becky Worley of Yahoo Tech showed CBS 5 Consumerwatch the Solio, one of the new wave of portable solar devices.  “The way it works, you just unfold these photovoltaic cells, you expose it to direct sunlight and it can get a full charge on its battery in 8 hours,” she said.
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